With 21 WC/EC titles on one side of the track to the Final and zero on the other. Can we put the blame on the extended numbers of the competing nations at the finals in France?
http://www.telegraaf.nl/telesport/voetbal/ek2016/26063211/___Kuipers_kan_fluiten_naar_finale___.html Also the last Dutchman will be out
I think I've seen that called exactly one time in the past five years. I don't think there is a keeper alive who doesn't come off his line to try to stop a PK. It was a lame kick by Ramos and Modric's message got through to the keeper about where he was going to kick it. I don't know why Fabregas wasn't the first choice; he used to take all the kicks when he was at Arsenal but maybe Rakitic would have helped out the keeper in that case.
I've seen it called many more times then that. There are also degrees of how far off the line refs will let you get away with, he was WAY off his line. A little bit or a medium bit most refs will turn a blind eye to
Not sure I want to watch the Croatia/Portugal extra time. Neither team can figure out how to get a shot on goal. Maybe will go to penalties.
No shots on target for the entire 90 minutes in this match http://www.flashscore.com/match/I9dGvRCK/#match-statistics;0
lol I wouldnt come up with an once in an century tossup of Van Gaal's bunkerball as an example. I thought more of 2008
No, 2008 contained also many counter goals (which I like, so that is ok). Was not as attacking as people think and van Bastens football outside of the group stage sucked. The qualification stage was painful to watch. That van Gaal system with the NT on the WC was also due to injury of a key player. The 2008 game under van Basten against Russia after the group stage was even one sided in terms of who was attacking. The 2014 game against Spain kick started the tournament IMO and surprised many. People still feared Spain and we made them look very vulnerable. We might have given them a mental blow, as Chile was finally able to win against them as well (after how many tries?). Spain out after winning Euro/WC/Euro back to back. A Chile that would win the Copa later on and is now again in the final winning 7-0 against Mexico just this week. Netherlands beat Chile too (2-0). Australia game was atrocious, but 9 points from that group was coming out very strong. Especially considering the 2 bullshit penalties against us. I fully enjoyed that 5-1 and certainly the second half had plenty of action. I also liked the diving header from RvP. Beauty of a goal. Had something very elegant.
He is. He definitly had an impact coming in against Croatia. He is like an octopus player, he attracts the ball and protects it very well. That being said, his passing sucks IMO and his handling speed is quite low. Ake can be his dutch version if he finally plays as a DM rather than LB.
Yeah, thats what I thought. He right away gave off the look of another Makelele type player. Hard to work off the ball, good body strength....etc. Could be a key player for Portugal for many years to come. If I were the manager I would start him remaining Euro matches
I think we'll have to disagree on this one. 2008 was absolutely watchable. 2014 had the first game and then it went downhill. Especially when I think back to the Costa Rica do not attack pact. Btw Die Holländer sind einfach die Schlausten. Das tun die sich nicht an. #EURO2016— Thomas Hitzlsperger (@ThomasHitz) June 25, 2016
ehh.. Didn't you think we were absolute shit till that RvP goal? When that ridiculous diving header went in everyone on the pitch lost their shit, Spain (for the worst) and our boys as well (for the better). But before then it was business as usual for Spain, they were 1-0 up. Sure they weren't 100%, but they didn't have to be at that point. That game was won by the individual brilliance of Rvp and Robben.